The Everyman Who Exposed Tainted Toothpaste

NY Times ^ | October 1, 2007 | WALT BOGDANICH

[neverdem]

PANAMA — Eduardo Arias hardly fits the profile of someone capable of humbling one of the world’s most formidable economic powers.

A 51-year-old Kuna Indian, Mr. Arias grew up on a reservation paddling dugout canoes near his home on one of the San Blas islands off Panama’s Caribbean coast. He now lives in a small apartment above a food stand in Panama, the nation’s capital, also known as Panama City.

But one Saturday morning in May, Eduardo Arias did something that would reverberate across six continents. He read the label on a 59-cent tube of toothpaste. On it were two words that had been overlooked by government inspectors and health authorities in dozens of countries: diethylene glycol, the same sweet-tasting, poisonous ingredient in antifreeze that had been mixed into cold syrup here, killing or disabling at least 138 Panamanians last year.

Mr. Arias reported his discovery, setting off a worldwide hunt for tainted toothpaste that turned out to be manufactured in China. Health alerts have now been issued in 34 countries, from Vietnam to Kenya, from Tonga in the Pacific to Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean. Canada found 24 contaminated brands and New Zealand found 16. Japan had 20 million tubes. Officials in the United States unwittingly gave the toothpaste to prisoners, the mentally disabled and troubled youths. Hospitals gave it to the sick, while high-end hotels gave it to the wealthy.

People around the world had been putting an ingredient of antifreeze in their mouths, and until Panama blew the whistle, no one seemed to know it.

The toothpaste scare helped galvanize global concerns about the quality of China’s exports in general, prompting the government there to promise to reform how food, medicine and consumer products are regulated. And other countries are re-examining how well they monitor imported...

[neverdem]

Tainted Toothpaste Across the Globe

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/01/world/americas/01panama.html?hp

That URL has a video.

[stefanbatory]

I have found a safe, cheap, and effective alternative...sea salt...once your gums are hrdened to the abrasiveness, it works most excellently...plus the slurry makes a great mouthwash...

[ONEBYEONE]

Can you soak your choppers in it too, lol?

[Global2010]

Med cleaning tools that go back in body here ect... we use one of 2 solutions.

1. Saline

2. 50/50 Saline and Hydrogen Peroxide

Both mixtures with Sterile water.

Cheap and most effective.

[Global2010]

Go French style. /sarc.

[Global2010]

Yes you can.

I soak trach tubes in a 50/50 solution of Saline/Hydroperoxide.

Still need to scrub your choppers though.

Disposabal scrub brushes are cheap.

Wifey will be licken’ your chops all over again and then some. : )

[Global2010]

Crap long day..sorry for the miss a spells.

Night all.

: )

[texas booster]

What % of peroxide goes in the solution?

Most homes only have the cheap (and old) stuff.

[GOPJ]

But one Saturday morning in May, Eduardo Arias did something that would reverberate across six continents. He read the label on a 59-cent tube of toothpaste. On it were two words that had been overlooked by government inspectors and health authorities in dozens of countries: diethylene glycol, the same sweet-tasting, poisonous ingredient in antifreeze...

The Chinese are sooooooooo ethically challenged they list poisons on the packaging? Stunning.

[scottteng]

“To resolve these issues, dental researchers at the University of Minnesota, led by Larry Wolff, Ph.D., D.D.S., conducted a four-year study involving 171 adults with moderate periodontitis. The study’s design enabled the researchers to compare the effectiveness of a baking soda, salt, and hydrogen peroxide mixture with that of ordinary toothpaste. The results, published in the January 1989 Journal of the American Dental Association, showed that while the baking soda mixture did help in the maintenance of oral health it was no more effective than ordinary toothpaste.”
http://www.enotalone.com/article/7750.html
No more effective means just as good as.

[PGalt]

Thanks for the post. Hooray Eduardo Arias!

[JACKRUSSELL]

”Made in China” Ping.

(Please FReepmail me if you would like to be on or off of the list.)

[JACKRUSSELL]

Eduardo Arias waiting for a bus recently outside his apartment building in Panama City.

[wideminded]

But one Saturday morning in May, Eduardo Arias did something that would reverberate across six continents. He read the label on a 59-cent tube of toothpaste.

Thank you Mr. Arias. But what if the poisonous ingredient were not on the label?

[wideminded]

I have found a safe, cheap, and effective alternative...sea salt...once your gums are hardened to the abrasiveness, it works most excellently..

My dentist has sometimes referred to other patients who get into trouble by using overly abrasive substances that wear down the lower part of their teeth, below the usual gum line. He had one patient, described as a businessman with an obsessive personality, who used Comet.

[stefanbatory]

Comet?!?!?!? the reason I mentioned sea salt is because it is not the same as rock salt(Morton is an example of rock salt)

plus, it is chemically more friendly to your body...:)

[bert]

I was wondering, what ever happened to chlorophyll in toothpaste?

Once billed as the savior of teeth it is now gone